Lancashire Combined Fire Authority

Meeting to be held on 23 June 2025

Member Champion Activity Report

Contact for further information – Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Sam Pink.

Tel: 01772 866802

Executive Summary

This paper provides a report on the work of the Member Champions for the period up to 22 June 2025.

Recommendation(s)

The Authority is requested to note and endorse the report and acknowledge the work of the respective Champions.

Information

The concept of Member Champions was introduced in December 2007 with a review of the roles in 2017.

The Authority appoints its Member Champions at its Annual Meeting in June, and the current Member Champions are:

· Community Safety (Member Champion to be confirmed at CFA on 23 June 2025).

· Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Member Champion to be confirmed at CFA on 23 June 2025).

· Health and Wellbeing (Member Champion to be confirmed at CFA on 23 June 2025).

· Road Safety (Member Champion to be confirmed at CFA on 23 June 2025).

Reports relating to the activity of the Member Champions are provided on a regular basis to the Authority. During this period, all have undertaken their respective role in accordance with the defined terms of reference. Their activity to date is as follows:

Community Safety

It has been another successful quarter of delivering and raising awareness of prevention activities across the County, through the efforts of the Community Fire Safety Teams (CFS) and Operational Crews.

Firstly, the team at Leyland attended the ‘Spring into Action’ event at Leyland Football Association. The team had a stand where leaflets on Fire Safety, Water Safety and Electric Bikes/Scooters were distributed. They also provided access to a live referral system for Home Fire Safety Check (HFSC) bookings. Additionally, the Operational Crew brought along a fire engine for children to explore, and the Army Cadets were also on hand to assist with booking water safety sessions.

In Northern area, the team identified Skerton in Lancaster as a priority ward for Accidental Dwelling Fires and Deliberate Fires, based on data from the new district plan. As a result, the CFS Team Leader noted that the Ryelands estate was an area with limited previous engagement. To address this, the team attended the Ryelands Residents Association Group meeting to discuss how the Service could help make the estate safer.

During the meeting, the Chair raised that there were 15 young people from the estate who were not enrolled in formal education, with some being homeschooled. Since then, work has been underway to explore how essential prevention activities can be delivered to them. The King’s Trust Team Leader has also been contacted and a visit to the area was being planned, with a community project suggested as a way to engage with the group.

Northern saw an increase in deliberate non-property fires, particularly over the Easter period. To address this, heat maps have been developed by the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) Research and Information Officer, to help pinpoint hotspots and track movements. This intelligence has since been shared at a multi-agency antisocial behaviour meeting and Operational Crews are able to request police attendance if youths are involved or present at deliberate fires enabling officers to patrol the area and engage with them.

The team in Central area has worked in co-ordination with Community Safety Advisor (CSA) Faz Patel to engage with the Islamic Boarding School for Girls. After navigating a few challenges, the team attended the school to deliver talks on ‘Fire Safety in the Home’ and ‘Fire Safety during Hajj’. Although Faz Patel was unable to deliver the sessions personally, due to the school being exclusively for female scholars, a significant moment did take place when he was invited into the room virtually to be introduced to the students. Following this successful meeting, the team have been invited back in June 2025 to deliver sessions around water safety.

The team in Western have also been working closely with CSA Faz Patel, to engage with the BME community and foster positive connections across the area. To date, several safety sessions have been organised for hotels that accommodate refugees and asylum seekers. Links have also been made with Black Caribbean groups in the area. An action plan is currently being developed to identify other communities and events where LFRS can support with prevention activity.

The Western team have also delivered Special Educational Needs sessions at three schools, offering adapted fire safety activities to teach young people about the dangers of fire and the importance of smoke detectors. The team has been active in the South Shore area too, participating in multi-agency street triage events. These events bring together multiple agencies, to raise fire safety awareness and ensure properties in high-risk areas have functioning smoke detectors.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Over the last quarter, representatives from the Service have actively engaged with employees and communities in various ways. Our approach to equality, diversity, and inclusion focuses on identifying and mitigating risks for those most vulnerable.

Two ‘Wasted Lives’ sessions were conducted at Springfields and West Lancs College to enhance participants' understanding of the consequences of Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs). Additionally, Burnley College hosted a multi-agency RTC demonstration involving active participation from students. It commenced with a presentation on Lancashire’s ‘Fatal 5’ – the five leading causes of fatal road collisions.

The Southern Area CFS team attended the annual Freshers Fayre at Edge Hill University, where they highlighted the dangers of drink driving and the risks associated with driving the morning after consuming alcohol. Their display included a crashed car exhibit and tailored fire safety advice for students.

In early February 2025, the Ramadan Safety Campaign was launched to raise awareness about key cooking and road safety risks during Ramadan and Eid. Events were held at Blackburn and Preston Community Fire Stations, bringing together community leaders, faith leaders, partner organisations, and the public to share vital safety messages. A dedicated safety talk was delivered to the Quwwatul Halaqah Ladies’ Group in Preston.

Safety campaigns were also delivered for Diwali and Chinese New Year. During Diwali, the CFS team visited supermarkets across Preston to distribute fire safety literature. For Chinese New Year, LFRS engaged with the Chinese community to promote a safe and festive season. A Community Engagement Officer visited Lancaster University to provide key fire safety information and attended local celebrations in Lancaster.

Following recent civil disturbances in Southport, there has been a strong focus on community reassurance, with continued delivery of HFSCs and Business Fire Safety Checks (BFSCs) in the area.

LFRS has proudly achieved Bronze Level Accreditation as a Dyslexia Friendly Workplace from the British Dyslexia Association and accessibility training has been delivered.

To mark International Women’s Day on 08 March 2025, a ‘Have a Go Day’ positive action recruitment event was held at the Leadership and Development Centre (LDC).

An Incident Command Awareness taster session took place on Monday, 24 March 2025 at LDC. The session included career planning, confidence building, leadership development, and an introduction to incident command.

The 2024 Bright Sparx campaign ran from 01 October to 18 November 2024, focusing on keeping Lancashire residents safe, happy, and well during the Bonfire Night period.

A water safety campaign, and a cooking safety campaign were also delivered, targeting high-risk areas.

Four ‘Have a Go Day’ positive action events were held in February and March 2025, aimed at sustaining public engagement and raising awareness of recruitment opportunities across Wholetime Firefighter, On Call Firefighter, and support staff roles.

The Fit for Fire initiative provided tailored fitness sessions and practical assessment support to individuals who were previously unsuccessful in the On-Call recruitment process, helping them prepare for future opportunities.

In our aim to create an inclusive and safe working environment and in accordance with new legislation, The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, effective from 26 October 2024, which requires employers to proactively prevent sexual harassment, we provided training input via Microsoft Teams to Flexi Duty Officers, Green Book Line Managers, King’s Trust staff, and representative bodies. Written briefings and Service-wide communications were also shared with leaders at all levels.

Health, Wellbeing & Climate Change

Climate Change and Environment

Supporting our drive to have a positive environmental impact, we commissioned AtkinsRéalis to undertake decarbonisation surveys across all premises, apart from Blackburn, Burnley, Chorley and Fleetwood, where alternative arrangements with the PFI contractor are in place. These surveys are to be completed under the National Decarbonisation Consultancy Contract and AtkinsRéalis have been selected as the provider of such surveys for all blue light organisations.

There are six stages to the project, outlined as per below:

1. Evaluation of LFRS current decarbonisation status.

2. Review of exiting asset information and data.

3. Review of energy data.

4. Review of all other relevant supporting information.

5. Recommendation considering potential Salix Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) funding applications.

6. Support to manage implementation of approved recommendations.

At the time of this report, AtkinsRéalis were working with the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Department to complete stages one to four during quarter one and two of 2025/26. Progress with stage five was expected during quarter three.

Health and Wellbeing

Our community engagement to improve health and wellbeing led to the Chief Executive of Cuerden Valley Park Trust approaching LFRS around the possible establishment of a new mental health and wellbeing project. Support would be offered to blue light personnel through a programme of workshops held at the Park. The project builds on an idea from a close friend of the Park’s CEO, Andy; a military veteran and ex-prison and police officer, who sadly lost his struggle with mental health in December 2024.

With a focus on emergency service personnel, who are regularly called upon to deal with traumatic incidents, the hope is that the project will provide vital support for those who might be struggling with experiences similar to Andy’s.

Drawing on collaboration work with the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and Lancashire Police, the Safety, Health and Wellbeing Advisor is liaising with Cuerden Valley Park and various colleagues to map out some fundraising opportunities for the project. It is hoped that this will, in turn, have a positive impact on staff mental health and wellbeing.

They use a variety of engagement tools, which are expected to range from sports tournaments, improving physical and mental health links, to a music festival, celebrating the musical talents of colleagues, and building solid social networks across Lancashire emergency services. Further updates will follow in future reports.

A Fire Fighters Charity (FFC) wellness workshop was facilitated over the previous quarter, which linked both mental and physical health together. The workshop, titled ‘Improving Sleep,’ provided an opportunity for staff to gain an understanding of how important sleep is for overall wellbeing and learning, and included techniques that can help aid sleep. A programme of wellbeing workshops is currently being arranged, which will be delivered throughout the next 12 months.

Road Safety

Over the last two months there has been a focus on the delivery of the Biker Down Package. Biker Down is a free three-hour course, which is available to members of the public, so they can learn about Incident Management, the Science of Being Seen and First Aid.

The Easter Bank Holiday weekend marked the start of the biking season for many, so it was a perfect opportunity to share road safety messages before the bikers dusted off their leathers and got back on their motorcycles following the winter break.

In this reporting period, five Biker Down sessions were completed for the following groups; North West Blood Bikers; Gay Bikers MCC; Lancashire Trial Riders; Those Damn Bikers; and North West Harley Owners Group. All of the courses were well-attended, and a total of 113 people completed the course.

Bowker Motorrad hosted the course for North West Blood Bikes, and provided hot food and refreshments, making it an informative and social evening for their members, who were all volunteers. Blood Bikers assist the NHS by moving patient notes and blood samples around hospitals on motorcycles. This is often a far quicker means of transport compared to other vehicles, and also saves the NHS around £750,000, as these trips would often otherwise be carried out via taxi, if a volunteer was not available.

Feedback as always remains extremely positive and a few examples are as per below:

“Really helpful, and definitely information that I will store for future potential use. The team delivering the course were approachable and delivered the content with the right amount of humour and seriousness. Thanks”

“A course that everyone riding in a group should do. As it was a well delivered course giving guidance that could save your buddies life! Super.”

Following an increase in fatal collisions involving young drivers under the age of 25 years old, the delivery of the Wasted Lives package continues to be prioritised.

Wasted Lives is an education programme aimed at pre and new drivers, with the intention of influencing positive behaviour change. The Prevention Support Officer (PSO) for Road Safety is leading the ‘Lancashire Road Safety Partnership – Young Road User Subgroup’, which interrogates the data and formulates a plan for the new academic year.

Part of this plan involves targeting high schools and colleges, as well as apprentice groups, who often have a source of income which allows them to buy newer, faster vehicles.

This month, sessions have been delivered across the county to many different groups including apprentices at BAE, Accrington Stanley Football Club and Marsden Heights High School. As part of the work to meet the statutory requirements under the Serious Violence Duty, a separate session was also delivered for the Child and Youth Justice Service, where attendees also completed an AQA qualification.

Business risk

Whilst no formal obligation is placed on the Authority to have Champions, effective utilisation of such roles offers a number of benefits.

Sustainability or Environmental Impact

The Member Champion role provides leadership on environmental issues and assists in engaging Authority members in strategic objectives relating to protecting the environment.

Equality and Diversity Implications

The Member Champion role provides leadership on equality and diversity issues and assists in engaging Authority members in strategic objectives relating to equality and diversity.

Data Protection (GDPR)

Will the proposal(s) involve the processing of personal data?  N

If the answer is yes, please contact a member of the Democratic Services Team to assist with the appropriate exemption clause for confidential consideration under part 2 of the agenda.

HR implications

Some Member and Officer time commitments.

Financial implications

Activities are within budget.

Legal implications

None identified.

Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985

List of background papers

Paper:

Date:

Contact: ACFO Sam Pink

Reason for inclusion in Part 2 if appropriate:  N/A